It's Resolution Time

Resolution time. Yes, resolution time. It needs to be talked about NOW because truly making a shift in behavior requires weeks of preparation, communication, and execution. What is your resolution? What do you want to do differently? You can add a task to your list, or you can give something up. These behaviors can seem small, but I promise you, EVERY SINGLE ONE is an enormous undertaking. We're all busy, and nothing is ever solely about US. With that in mind, you need to communicate your intentions properly with everyone around you to ensure the right support and to avoid derailment.

Easy example: I would like to exercise 3 days a week. Ok, when? What time of day? Is your spouse willing to help with the kids on those days? What about days with no school? Or snow days? What's the backup plan? What about travel? If you go somewhere will you workout two days in a row before you leave? Or pack clothes for when you're there? Does everyone at work know you are unable to be at a meeting any earlier than 8:30 am? All of these things are NOT selfish to request! It's personal wellness and last I checked taking care of yourself takes a HELL of a lot less time and money than having someone take care of you once you're sick.

Another example: Putting money aside or increasing savings. This is not embarrassing! You can say no to going out for drinks, dinner, the Nordstrom sale or a charitable donation. Fuck the person who judges that decision or what you do with your hard earned money! If you have a desire to put away xx/month and choose a few things you will allow yourself to do for fun - then great. No one else has the right to question that. Communicate to your family, friends and kids. Anyone who falls outside that circle and gives you crap for your decision, well, that's a whole other topic.

The long and short of this: A failure to plan is a plan to fail. If you truly have intentions of changing behavior, yourself or what you contribute back it needs to be well thought out, realistic, measurable, attainable and carry a timeline. Anything else is not smart. The other huge takeaway - communicate your intentions to those you choose to keep in your life. They'll support you! As Dr. Suess says, "Those that matter don't mind and those that mind don't matter."

Happy Holidays
-GS

Be Thankful.

Be grateful.

I have been thinking a lot about Thanksgiving these past few weeks. It has traditionally been my favorite holiday for as long as I can remember. It is one in which new traditions have been easy to create because it’s not tied to religion. I am in no way trying to sound like an atheist, but it has always made the day about your tradition and creating traditions vs. having to carry out traditions.

Today we stand on the eve of Thanksgiving. A day that was declared a national holiday in 1863 by President Lincoln that we have done what we as Americans always do gluttonize that entire thing. Somewhere along the line it became about what your favorite side dish is and what time are you eating dinner because you might go to two places. Not so you can say hello but so you can eat two meals. A day that now has three NFL games so that we can be assured not actually to talk and connect with the company around you. A holiday that started as a celebration of a successful fall harvest has been warped into an overindulgence of many things.

As you start to think about your day tomorrow I ask you to be very open and upfront with yourself and those around you about what you’re thankful for. Don’t take the easy road either. “I’m thankful for my health” – WTF does that mean to you? Do you mean that you’re happy you don’t have cancer but not thankful enough to do 30 minutes of exercise every day? “I’m thankful for this meal” – because you know it’s going to be delicious & you didn’t have to cook it? Or are you grateful you can take a day of rest with your family and friends under a protected roof and financially afford to place a meal on the table? Get into what you’re grateful for and enlighten yourself as to just how many wonderful things you have around you.
I thankfully work is busy, and I have to work every day.
I'm thankful I didn't grow up thinking families were perfect, and shit is hard.
I'm thankful I got a job as young as I did and always kept one.
I'm thankful I blew out my knee because it reminds me to slow down and re-evaluate things.
I'm thankful I have seen what alcoholism does to a person, so I am mindful of my relationship with it.
I'm thankful I have people who love me.
I'm thankful I can afford a car.

You’re right there is always something else to drive towards but never forget what you have. Be thankful!

- GS

You Do You

“Your biggest challenge isn't someone else; it's the ache in your lungs, the burning in your legs, and the voice inside you that yells, "Can't" But you don't listen, you push harder. You hear the voice whisper "Can," and you discover that the person you thought you were is no match for the one you are.” -Unknown

One of the biggest factors that can interrupt fitness or life, in general, is competition. A lot of the times it is drilled into people’s minds that they need to be better than the person they are up against. While competition is a dynamic aspect to life, it can backfire. Competition can shy people away from even getting into a gym because the competition seems too intimidating. Be open to failure, not closed to trying. On the contrary, competition can push someone to injury by trying to keep up with the guy next to them. Be motivated, not presumptuous. Instead of always challenging yourself against someone else, focus on the competition within yourself. Focus on being better than who you were yesterday. Not just physically, but mentally. Challenge your body, your mind, your character. Fitness is a very personal thing, so it should be treated accordingly. Everyone has a different body, goal, expectation, or training style. The distraction of others can cause us to lose what we stand for or believe in. We begin only to see ourselves in comparison to others around us. Let others be that motivation and push, but never your reason for thinking you “can or can’t” do something. Be faster, be stronger, work harder, eat healthier than YOU did yesterday. 

Everyone is after a different goal; instead of trying to chase someone else’s go out and achieve your own.

- Amber

Not enough time in the day to workout?

Not enough time in the day to workout?

You hear it all the time, "I don't have time for that; I have kids, work, school, etc." You're right, not everyone has time for an hour workout when it takes 10 minutes to get to and from the gym. Add in eating before, changing clothes, traffic; sometimes we're looking at a two hour ordeal to get in that workout that you sometimes don't really even want to do.

First - if you don't have time to go to the gym and truly don't, nobody wants to hear you bitch about it. Do something around the house - garden, clean, go out for a walk with the kids or just a brisk walk by yourself. That's a "functional" workout for you; it doesn't always have to be weights and running. I'd rather see you post a picture of yourself raking the yard as opposed to a picture of you squatting an insignificant amount of weight, with terrible form, while having a stupid duck face. But I'll leave that topic for another day.

Second - back to doing something you don't want to do. Why? I don't like to run, so I don't. Ever. Forcing yourself to the gym to do something you hate to do will make it seem like you have even less time than you really do. Funny how you find time to watch "Game of Thrones", check Facebook or find time to complain about not having time. Do something you actually want to do like hiking, biking, swimming, golf, tennis or anything active that's enjoyable. You'll find time for that.

Third and last - you don't always have to work out for an hour. Do a half hour blast, split your runs up, quick ride on the bike, mobility/Trigger Point session - anything is more effective than sitting on your ass especially if that's what you have to do for your day job. 

Move more, get out, and stay active.

CW

Be Inspired by Them. Motivated for YOU.

We all do it. We have those individuals, or find ourselves in situations, in which we are enamored by someone else. Whether it is their physique, performance, and/or accomplishments - it happens. I myself am guilty of this behavior on a regular basis. I'm a list maker - Type A. Still I feel myself getting wrapped up in the latest of things that I read or see: I want to win the CrossFit Games because I just watched it on ESPN 2, or I want to run a 3:40 marathon because he or she did, or I want to vacation in the Caribbean. Have you seen my skin?! I look like the underbelly of a deep water fish. The Caribbean Sullivan?? But really... is that what I want? Is that what YOU want?

I myself am a slender build and it's difficult for me to put on weight... Ok, now you know I'm bullshitting. I'm quite the opposite. I'm built like wrecking ball with a big ass and legs that make it difficult to buy pants. I work with a number of colleagues, whom I respect immensely, that have very lean builds and body types, muscular arms, and shredded abs. I find myself pushing towards THAT instead of embracing the fact that I might not have a 6-pack but I can squat a house. I find myself caught off guard by these thoughts and obsessing over physical aspects that were never important to me and I never wanted to accomplish in the first place. Why?

Don't get me wrong, I think that having this kind of stimuli in our lives is very important for consistent personal growth. Complacency can be the death of us all! Whether it applies to your health, profession, or relationships, complacency is the beginning of the end. So I welcome these stressors. I welcome these  in my life and these situations that cause me to push to be the best ME. I to need to remind myself constantly of that final point. Be the best ME!

We all fall victim to being caught up in what is popular or trending. I see so many of us waste time & energy, getting stressed and becoming distracted by someone else's accomplishments and/or their "highlight reel ". To borrow a quote from Will Smith: "Too many people spend money they didn't earn, to buy things they don't want, to impress people they don't like". We see another person "happy" and we covet their life becoming jealous rather than inspired. Let's cut the shit. Seriously.

Ask yourself: what is important and motivating to YOU? Set some goals around what YOU want and allow yourself to be happy for others when they get what THEY want. Be inspired, not intimidated. It's amazing to let go. 

~Sully

Cookies? Yes, cookies.

Yes! We sell cookies. Get over it!

We made the decision to bring in the full line of Liz Lovely cookies to CPC. Bringing this product line into CPC has raised a few eyebrows, and questions, so I'm going to try to address some of the concerns and inform everyone about our decision.

The cookies have been well received (particularly by yours truly), but there have been a couple of skeptics. We've heard things like, "OMG! that's a lot of calories!" or "Whoa, do you know how much sugar is in this?". The short answer: YEAH, I do. IT'S. A. COOKIE! Cookies are supposed to have sugar, otherwise it wouldn't be a sweet and delicious TREAT!  The fact is that these cookies are meant to be just that - a treat. All cookies, brownies, cakes, cupcakes, ice cream, etc. are meant to be consumed occasionally.   

For the record, the whole staff at CPC eats cookies. True story. And we all love the Liz Lovely cookies. We all love them but we don't have them everyday. We recognize that they are not a 'health' food and shouldn't be eaten regularly or in excess. Too much of anything can be bad for you. Avocados are delicious - and great for you! - but eat them 24/7 and let me know how you feel.  So have a cookie once-in-a-while.

Speaking of 'health'.  These cookies are not a health food by definition, but they are gluten free, dairy free, egg free, kosher, non-gmo, and vegan. All great stuff! To make a couple of comparisons: the sugar and calorie contents of the Liz Lovely cookies are right on par with some "100 calorie cookie/snack packs" that are out there and if we're being honest ... most people don't have just one pack.  The big difference between those packs and the Liz Lovely cookies? The ingredient list on the Liz Lovely cookies is half the size and we can pronounce the whole ingredient list.  Whether it's a cookie, or a salad, we want to choose something that is wholesome, minimally processed, high quality, and doesn't contain things you can't read. I don't know about you, but my health, and the health of my family, is more important than getting caught up in the sensationalized propaganda of calorie counting. Be concerned with where the calories come from rather than how many there are. 

One last thing: I know many endurance athletes who have a problem with eating before exercise and getting an upset stomach.  I encourage you to try a cookie, or half a cookie, as a pre-workout meal.  Just like the Garuka Bars, the Liz Lovely cookies have those sugars that can help fuel you but also keep you from having stomach issues.  Give them a shot.  

CPC is here to try to give you as much good information and products as possible to help you make good choices. We gave you the information. Now it's up to you to do what you will with it.  

- Mike 

What Diet is Best?

What diet do you follow?  What do you think of this diet?  Is this diet healthy?  These are all common questions that we get at CPC, all of which are good legitimate questions.  Contained in what follows, I hope, are the answers to these questions, in my humbled opinion.  Since I've been somewhat labeled the "Food Guy" (just to put it out there, in writing, I'm not a chef) around here I figured I would speak on the topic after I got asked one of these very questions just the other day.  No, I'm not telling you who asked me the question so don't ask.

To start lets look at the definition(s) of Diet.

1.  the kinds of food that a person, animal, or community habitually eats.

2.  a special course of food to which one restricts oneself, either to lose weight or for medical reasons.

The definition that I like the most is #1.  A diet by all intents and purposes is boiled down to simply, the food that we eat.  There is no name attached to said diet, it's food, that you cook/prepare, and then consume, that's it.  In the "true" diet world there is no Paleo, Atkins, South Beach, Mediterranean, etc. With that being said, what I think your diet should consist of is a diverse group of wholesome, natural, unprocessed, and unrefined foods.  Know where your food comes from!  Buy locally if you can. Stick with organic and non-GMO when possible.  Cook at home, eat out less.  Stay away from gluten if you want or need to.  This is what your diet should reflect and consist of.  If you want to eat something then eat it! If you have a craving don't ignore it -odds are you actually need what you are craving.  More often than not our bodies are smarter than we are, or than we think it is.  Listen To It!  All your diet should be is you paying attention to, being conscious of, and being consistent with what you are eating.  

Diets in the socially accepted sense and definition are really only meant to be short term quick fixes for vain aesthetic hang-ups that we have about our bodies.  "I want to lose 15lbs" sure the South Beach Diet may work.  "I want to get rid of my muffin top" - yes, Atkins may be able to help that.  "I want six-pack abs" Paleo might be able to help you get them, but did cave men have six-packs?  I don't know, I would think not, even if they did you couldn't see it under all that hair.  Anyway, all these diets do is make you change your eating habits for a short time until you see the results that you want.  Once this happens odds are you forget about the "diet" and go back to your normal eating habits, and guess what you put weight back on, you sprout the muffin top again, you trade in the six-pack for a keg again, and in most cases it's even worse then when you went on the "diet" to begin with.  We were not meant to eat this way (yo-yo effect), and it's not healthy to eat this way either.  

Diets also restrict calories or whole food groups a lot of the time. "Carbs are the enemy". Well yes, refined sugars and crap like that is, but our body needs them (from good sources), they're a fuel source.  Ever try driving your car without gas?  It doesn't work very well. If you don't trust me then try it, just don't call me when you need a ride.  "Fats are so bad for you, they'll clog your arteries" true to some extent.  If we eat a diet high in fats and cholesterol we do increase our risks for heart disease, but we also need fat.  Our brains use fat for normal mental function. It's true look it up.  I can go on and on but you get the picture that I'm trying to paint, you need to eat everything. Our bodies need this stuff to work and function properly!

Another tip: We are all different, and what works for one person might not work for the next.  One way of eating isn't going to affect each person in the same way.  What you need to do is try things and see what works for you. Pay attention to what you are eating and how it makes you feel.  Half of the battle is just establishing a healthy relationship with your food, by that I mean, what you are eating, when, what combinations, how much, where, why you're eating (hungry, bored, craving) etc.  Trial and error it up, see what works. It's not going to happen over night so don't get discouraged - it's a process.  

That's pretty much my take on dieting. I could go on but I'm not a nutrition expert so don't hold me accountable for any dieting disasters. I'm just giving you some tips that I think are helpful and useful. Moral of the story eat GOOD food, stay away from the crap. If you have a big butt, so what, don't look to a diet to try to fix it. Embrace the butt (figuratively....or literally - your call) and be happy with who you are. Unless the butt is causing serious health issues then yes, get rid of it.  Stay away from the stereotypical diet trends and just work on your overall relationship with food.  

Any questions, comments, problems? Let me know. You know where to find me.